Epeolus ilicis Mitchell, 1962

Onuferko, Thomas M., 2018, A revision of the cleptoparasitic bee genus Epeolus Latreille for Nearctic species, north of Mexico (Hymenoptera, Apidae), ZooKeys 755, pp. 1-185 : 94-97

27. Epeolus ilicis Mitchell, 1962 Figs 3E, 57, 58, 92F, 97G, 100A

Epeolus ilicis Mitchell, 1962. N. C. Agric. Exp. Stn. Tech. Bull. 152: 448 (♀).

Epeolus vernalis Mitchell, 1962. N. C. Agric. Exp. Stn. Tech. Bull. 152: 455 (♀), syn. n.

Epeolus weemsi Mitchell, 1962. N. C. Agric. Exp. Stn. Tech. Bull. 152: 455 (♂), syn. n.

Diagnosis.

The following morphological features in combination (excluding any that are specific to the opposite sex of the one being diagnosed) can be used to tell E. ilicis apart from all other North American Epeolus except E. erigeronis and E. inornatus : the mandible is simple; the axilla does not attain the midlength of the mesoscutellum but the free portion is distinctly hooked, with the tip unattached to the mesoscutellum for more than 1/3 of the entire medial length of the axilla; the pronotal collar and metasomal terga are black; the metasomal terga have rather fine punctures; and the pseudopygidial area of the female is distinctly campanulate with the apex <2 × the medial length and not in contact with two large patches of pale tomentum (one on each side) throughout its length (in contact only at apex, diverging basally). Epeolus ilicis is most similar to E. inornatus , and in both species the mesopleuron has punctures that are similar in size and shiny interspaces that are commonly equal to the puncture diameters. By contrast, in E. erigeronis the punctures are more variable in size, with many smaller punctures among large ones, and most interspaces are narrower such that the surface appears to be very coarsely and densely rugose-punctate. Whereas in E. inornatus the legs (and sometimes the pronotal lobe and tegula) are usually darker, at least from the metacoxa to metatibia, the dorsum of the mesosoma and metasoma have gray short appressed setae, and S4 and S5 of the male have short straight subapical hairs, in E. ilicis the pronotal lobe and legs are more extensively reddish orange than brown or black (at least the anterior surface of the metatibia and metatarsus are the same reddish orange color), the dorsum of the mesosoma and metasoma have gray but also usually some pale yellow short appressed setae, and S4 and S5 of the male have long curved coppery to silvery subapical hairs. Epeolus ilicis is also similar to E. gibbsi , but in E. gibbsi the mandible has a blunt, obtuse preapical tooth; in females F2 is less than 1.2 × as long as wide (it is more than 1.2 × as long as wide in female E. ilicis ); and the pseudopygidial area of the female is in contact with two large patches of pale tomentum (one on each side [the two are parallel to each other]) throughout its length.

Redescription.

This species was recently redescribed ( Onuferko 2017).

Distribution.

Southeastern United States (Fig. 58).

Ecology.

HOST RECORDS: Rozen (1989) described first instar E. ilicis based on two larvae recovered from the nest of Colletes brimleyi Mitchell on St. Catherines Island in Georgia, USA, from where conspecifics of the former have been recorded (see Material studied).

FLORAL RECORDS: Onuferko (2017) lists associations with five plant genera based on Mitchell (1962) and a record on Discover Life ( Ascher and Pickering 2017 [then 2016]). Since the discovery of E. inornatus , a cryptic species very similar to E. ilicis whose name applies to at least one of Mitchell’s paratypes of E. ilicis (see Material studied under E. inornatus ), my taxon concept of E. ilicis has changed. As a result, I have only been able to determine that records of Ilex glabra and Prunus angustifolia Marshall ( Rosaceae ), taken from the collection labels of the holotypes of E. ilicis and E. weemsi respectively, are associated with what is here understood to be the true E. ilicis .

Discussion.

Both the holotype of E. ilicis and the holotype of E. vernalis were examined, and the two appear to be the same species. In Mitchell’s (1962) key, the two species were differentiated on the basis of whether or not (and if so to what degree) the metasomal fasciae are interrupted medially, but the T1-T3 apical fasciae are interrupted medially (those of T1 and T2 are somewhat more widely separated medially) in both holotype specimens and the T4 fascia is complete in the E. ilicis holotype and only very narrowly interrupted in the E. vernalis holotype. Moreover, the type locality is the same for both (Holly Shelter [Pender County], North Carolina, USA), and the two specimens were collected only 12 days apart.

Presently, only a single 422 bp sequence is available for E. ilicis (a male specimen from Florida, USA), which clusters with sequences of E. zonatus (Suppl. material 2), and all were assigned the same BIN. The Florida specimen is most similar to the holotype of E. weemsi , which Mitchell (1962) described before noting that it might be the male of E. vernalis . In both the sequenced specimen and E. weemsi holotype, S4 and S5 have long curved coppery to silvery subapical hairs, which are absent in the very similar E. inornatus but present in all other North American male Epeolus . Whereas I have opted to treat E. ilicis and E. zonatus as heterospecific based on remarkably consistent differences in integument coloration coupled with a general loss of pubescence in E. zonatus , despite the apparent lack of evidence of genetic divergence, the extremely subtle differences in integument coloration and pubescence among the holotypes of E. ilicis , E. vernalis , and E. weemsi seem to fall within the range of intraspecific variation, and therefore E. vernalis and E. weemsi are herein synonymized under E. ilicis . Although the three names were published simultaneously, priority of the name should be given to E. ilicis because the holotype is in the best condition (those of E. vernalis and E. weemsi have broken antennae and in the latter much of the pubescence is discolored or rubbed off), it is female and most Epeolus spp. were described from female name-bearing types (the holotype of E. weemsi is male), and because an allotype and paratypes were designated for E. ilicis but not E. vernalis or E. weemsi . This species appears to be quite common in the Southeastern United States, where it may be confused with E. erigeronis or E. inornatus .

Material studied.

Type material. Primary: USA: Florida: Alachua County, 23.ii.1957, H.V. Weems, Jr. ( E. weemsi holotype ♂, FSCA); North Carolina: Holly Shelter (Pender County), 30.v.1950, T.B. Mitchell ( E. ilicis holotype ♀ [USNM, catalog number: 534048]), 18.v.1950, T.B. Mitchell ( E. vernalis holotype ♀ [USNM, catalog number: 534607]).

Secondary: USA: Georgia: Fort Gordon (Richmond County), 25.iv.1959, R.R. Snelling (paratype ♂, NCSU); South Carolina: McClellanville, 12.v.??44, H.K. Townes (paratype ♂, NCSU), 19.v.??44, H. and G. Townes (paratype ♂, NCSU).

DNA barcoded material with BIN-compliant sequences.

Available. BOLD:ACM5887. Specimens examined and sequenced.-USA: Florida: Apalachicola National Forest (30.3291°N; 84.5052°W) (Forest Rd 366, Leon County), 15-20.v.2005, A. Deans, S. Joshi, and D. Murray (1♂, AMNH).

Non-barcoded material examined.

USA: Alabama: Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge (Baldwin County), 05-07.v.1994, S.A. Marshall (1♀, DEBU); Florida: A.T. Slosson (1♀, AMNH); 3 mi NW Sopchoppy (near Sopchoppy River, Wakulla County), 19.iv.1979, G.B. Fairchild (3♀, FSCA); Blackwater River State Forest (4 mi N Munson, Santa Rosa County), 12.vi.1988, L. Stange and J. Wiley (1♀, FSCA); Destin (Okaloosa County), 17.v.1969, H.V. Weems, Jr. (1♀, FSCA); St. Andrews State Park (Bay County), 05-07.v.1987, L. Stange and J. Wiley (2♀, FSCA), 06-07.v.1987, L. Stange and J. Wiley (1♀, 1♂, FSCA); Suwannee River State Park, 13-25.iv.1977, J.R. Wiley (1♂, FSCA); Torreya State Park (Liberty County), 18.v.1970, H.V. Weems, Jr. (1♀, FSCA); Georgia: St. Catherines Island (Liberty County), 24-28.iv.1972, Thompson and Picchi (1♂, AMNH), 10-14.iv.1991, J.G. Rozen, E. Quinter, and A. Sharkov (1♀, AMNH); South Carolina: Hunting Island State Park (Beaufort County), 08.iv.1963, J.G. and B.L. Rozen (1♂, AMNH).